Wednesday, May 19, 2010

So if you squint a little over at the twin Followers bars, you’ll note they’ve collectively reached one hundred followers.

I’m really blown away.

Anyone who blogs knows that it’s a bit like playing tennis in a void. You hit the ball, send it sailing past over the vanishing point, and stand there wondering for quite awhile whether you’ve made a complete fool out of yourself.

You might have to wait along while sending out balls in other directions, or in the same one. You hit harder. You try try again.

It’s nothing less then an act of faith.

And then just when you’ve given up, you hear a crack, and that long lost ball comes sailing back at you from some point unknown over the horizon. You are so shocked you don’t know how to react.

I’ve seen that ball fly back at me a hundred times now. And it never gets any less exhilarating.

So thank you. And I mean that as sincerely as I can. Thank you to everyone who has ever taken the time to click that follow button, or leave a comment, or just drop by. I can’t tell you how much it has meant to me. I really can’t.

And now that the humblings out of the way the hubris can begin.

I’m planning a Christopher Nolan Blogothon to run from July 11 to the 17th. Starting with The Following, I will cover every one of his films, culminating with the release of Inception. I hope to get articles from various people and various viewpoints. The articles can cover anything; his career as a whole, a particular film, or just a particular aspect of Nolan.

I know a two month lead time may strike some of you as excessive, but I’m still a relatively small blog and would like to have actual articles to post during the blogothon and have, y’know people actually read them. So I figure with a two month lead people will have time to write some stuff up, set it aside, and get the word out.

As you may recall from my review of The Prestige in which I named it my fourth favorite films of the decade; I think Nolan is one of the most interesting filmmakers working today and utterly unique in his position of power and influence among today’s filmmakers. Are there more interesting filmmakers then Nolan working today? Perhaps. But none with his canvas, and none with his ability to sell a vision as idiosyncratic as his, to a mass audience.

I find him one of the most intriguing filmmakers working today. And with his seventh film his body of work becomes big enough to be looked at as a whole. It seems the perfect time to do it. And I feel like as an event it could be really special.

The only question is, do I have the platform yet?

This is the most ambitious thing I’ve done with this blog. And its entirely possible I’ve bitten off more then I can chew.

As I said, if you clicked that follow button I owe you. Pure and Simple.

But I need to be selfish and ask for your help again. If you have a blog, I’d love for you to participate. If you can’t or aren’t I understand but hope you will post one of my banners anyway. I want to make this work, and with your help I think I can.

"When I started to follow people, specific people, when I selected a person to follow, that's when the trouble started."

"How can I heal if I can't forget?"

"You and I share a secret. We know how easy it is to kill someone. That ultimate taboo. It doesn't exist outside our own minds."

"You traveled the world. Now you must journey inwards. To what you really fear. It's inside you. There is no turning back."

"Mankind's grasp exceeds his imagination."

"You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these... these civilized people, they'll eat each other."

"What's the most resilient parasite? An Idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules."

...

If you could link your banners to the following URL I'd very much appreciate it.

25 comments:

I know exactly what you mean when you talk about the feeling of that tennis ball coming back from the great beyond. I used to joke about the fact that my podcast had six listeners, but with so many of us out here, I remain filled with that "how can anyone really be reading my stuff" self-dread.

Then again, I've managed to amass 82 followers in blogger and 95 in facebook (with some carry over between them I'm sure). So I guess someone's reading!

Looking forward to the Nolan-a-thon...now to decide what I'm going to write!

As someone closing in on a 100 followers myself, I can certainly relate to what you're talking about, here. It's nice to know that many people are at least remotely interested instead in reading your words even if they don't leave comments.

Oh, and count me in for Nolan blogathon. I love his films and am eagerly anticipating INCEPTION.

I think it would be interesting to look at Nolan's ethos of adaptation. Have you read The Prestige? Nolan's version is very different, yet manages to maintain the feel of the story AND introduces some really new (and horrifying) twists. And of course Insomnia and the Batman films are adaptations as well. I may contribute, as I too am very much looking forward to Inception. For what it's worth, earlier this year I went and watched all of Nolan's non-Batman films and blogged about them.

I'll be sending you linkages to my Nolan stuff...a "Now "Ive Seen Everything" on the man, reviews of "Following" (no "The"), "Batman Begins," "The Prestige," "The Dark Knight," and a "Don't Make a Scene: The Dark Knight."

The shall be coming forthwith in your e-mail when I can corral the herd.

I've got reviews on Memento, The Prestige and TDK to send your way. Used to own Insomnia, but some punk stole it, so I need to watch that again. Never seen Following either. I feel shame. Awesome Blogathon idea, man.

Also, that anime still on your right sidebar with the blonde gal tied up, the one below the zombies and above The Wall (I think that's the wall), is that Castle of Cagliostro?

You're so awesome for writing this. Many a lonely and ice cream binging night have I wondered in despair if my writing was being seen or appreciated in the slightest degree by anyone. You speak for beginning bloggers everywhere with your wonderful, insightful words.

With that said, you can count me in on your blogathon. I'd love to contribute anything I could in order to show your blog some love. We're all in this together! *Busts Zac Efron moves*

I'm promoting this over at my site, Bryce. I don't know if I'll be publishing anything for the blogathon; I'll probably just be a spectator and join in the discussions. Admittedly, though I generally like Nolan as a filmmaker and have a lot of affection for both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, I don't consider myself a fan just yet. Most of it has to do with my reservations towards Memento, which I've always regarded as one of those modern "Film 101 movies" (alongside Fincher's Fight Club and Singer's The Usual Suspects): the kind of movie that is easily called great, and hailed by high school kids and IMDB voters worldwide for its gimmicky film techniques. It's arguable, but I think I would have enjoyed Memento a little better if Nolan had told it in a simple linear fashion; the backwards storytelling technique doesn't jive with me. It's a good movie, though.

I've missed out on Nolan's less popular films, notably Following. I didn't see The Prestige since I'm not too big a fan of the magic underworld (and rather despise The Illusionist, which came out the same year), but I'll check it out provided that Nolan puts a twist on the genre. I'm mostly interested in seeing Insomnia due to the cast. And actually, I can't wait for Inception: maybe this movie will help me work out a final verdict on whether or not I'm a definite Nolan fan.